The Ganga Task Force is a unit of the Territorial Army deployed in the services of the Ganga.
It consists of 3 companies of over 100 men each to be stationed at Kanpur, Allahabad and Varanasi, with the Battalion headquarters at Allahabad.
It is formed with the approval of Ministry of Defence and trained by the Defence ministry.
They will be in force till December 2020.
Mandates of the force -
Crowd management during Kumbh Mela,
Spread awareness on keeping the river clean,
Stop people and industry from polluting the river,
Assisting during floods/natural calamity in the region,
Planting trees to check soil erosion and
Patrolling sensitive river areas for biodiversity protection.
They have also been trained by the Central Pollution Control Board to measure the health of the river.
Territorial Army
The Territorial Army is a part of Regular Army.
It was set up after the Territorial Army Act was passed in 1948.
Before Independence, British raised territorial army in 1920 with two wings - European wing and Indian Volunteers wing.
Its present role is to relieve the Regular Army from static duties and assist civil administration and provide units as and when required.
It assist regular army in dealing with natural calamities and maintenance of essential services in situations where life of the communities is affected or the security of the Country is threatened.
Territorial Army units were actively involved in 1962, 1965 and 1971 operations.
Eurasian Otter
Otter is a carnivorous mammal and there are 7 subspecies found in 3 continents - Europe, Asia and Africa.
The Eurasian otter found in all the 3 continents is considered to be "Near Threatened" in IUCN Red List.
It lives in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, including highland and lowland lakes, rivers, streams, marshes, swamp forests and coastal areas independent of their size, origin or latitude.
Eurasian otter is the one of the least-known of India’s 3 otter species (Eurasian, smooth-coated & small-clawed otters) in Western Ghats.
It has been recorded historically from the Western Ghats - Coorg in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri and Palani hill ranges.
Though its range is wide, it is not as frequently sighted as other two otters in India.
All 3 species of otters in India are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and are listed in CITES Appendices.
Eurasian Otter - CITES Appendix I; WPA Schedule II
Smooth Coated Otter - CITES Appendix II; WPA Schedule II
Clawless Otter - CITES Appendix II; WPA Schedule I
Asiatic Lions
There are only 700 Asiatic lions in the wild, and they only live in the Gir Forest area, India.
At present Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat is the only abode of the Asiatic lion.
It is listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of CITES and as Endangered on IUCN Red List.
The asiatic lions in Gir Sanctuary, has recently been succumbed to the deadly infection of canine distemper virus (CDV) and tick-borne babesiosis.
Canine Distemper Virus is a contagious and serious disease that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of species of cats and dogs family.
Babesiosis is caused by a parasite that infects red blood cells and transmitted by ticks.
JIMEX - 18
The 3rd edition of Japan-India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) is going to be organized in Visakhapatnam.
The last edition of JIMEX was conducted in Dec 2013 off Chennai.
The conduct of JIMEX-18 after 5 years is indicative of an upswing in the Indo-Japanese defence relations.
It is aimed to enhance interoperability, improve understanding and imbibe the best practices of each other.
